Pfizer aims to create coronavirus vaccine by end of 2020 – MLive.com

The global pharmaceutical manufacturing company Pfizer is working towards supplying millions of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year, according to the company.

In partnership with German company BioNTech, known for its cancer treatments, the two health tech giants aim to rapidly advance multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates into human clinical testing, according to a press release from Pfizer.

With BioNTechs head start in mRNA vaccines, which have seen results in animals with influenza, Zika and rabies virus, the two companies hope to supply millions of vaccine doses by the end of 2020.

The companies plan to rapidly scale up capacity to produce hundreds of millions of doses in 2021, according to the press release.

These developments will hinge on technical success of the development program and approval by regulatory authorities, according to the release.

BioNTech will contribute multiple vaccine candidates as part of its vaccine program, which are expected to enter human testing this month, according to the release.

The collaboration is unprecedented, Mikael Dolsten, Chief Scientific Officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development & Medical at Pfizer said in the release.

Combatting the COVID-19 pandemic will require unprecedented collaboration across the innovation ecosystem, with companies coming together to unite capabilities like never before, Dolsten said . I am proud of Pfizers collaboration with BioNTech and have every confidence in our ability to harness the power of science together to bring forth a potential vaccine that the world needs as quickly as possible.

On March 3, Pfizer announced it identified compounds that could potentially be used in a treatment for the coronavirus.

The company completed a preliminary assessment of certain antiviral compounds that inhibited the replication of coronaviruses similar to the one causing COVID-19 in cultured cells, according to a press release.

The company is now investing in materials that will accelerate the start of a potential clinical study of the lead molecule three or more months in advance of earlier estimates due to positive pre-clinic results, according to a press release.

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MORE MICHIGAN CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE HERE.

Below is a county-by-county map of Michigan tracking confirmed COVID-19 cases, followed by a map of possible exposure sites and a chart based on the states daily reports. The maps will be updated as more reports are released.

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Pfizer aims to create coronavirus vaccine by end of 2020 - MLive.com